The age of enmity

Is enmity always bad?

The age of enmity is upon us, that is, if it ever really left us in the first place. The halcyon days of mutual agreement of fundamental agreement with mere tinkering on technical policy paints a nice picture, but that is all it is a picture. America’s ‘imagined community’, to use Benedict Anderson’s phrase, is not merely the construction of a national identity but a belief that the Trump years presents an unnatural disruption to an otherwise peaceful political order. Like all such imaginings, it has roots in both myth and fact.

It is true to say that the Trump era has offered something new, at least in modern politics. Polling indicating partisan dislike reaching new highs and public trust hitting close to record lows should foster concern for the political health of the Republic. Yet, the American nation is a revolutionary one. Compromise has rarely been its strong suit. On political questions defining the nation since its inception, whether that is slavery, civil rights, or the war on terror. America, in the end, has used force, not persuasion, to try and achieve a final outcome.

The use of force over fundamental political questions necessitates questioning if America has ever been politically cohesive. Perhaps, America is simply an ill-at-ease revolutionary nation that has never resolved fundamental tensions. Whilst there is little doubt in Americans’ strong belief in the Constitution, the battles over what it ‘truly means’ indicates it is not a source of unity as many proclaim. Instead, a more realistic assessment is that the constitution, rather than binding a nation together, is merely another battleground for fights over abortion and gun control defining what ‘America’ truly is.

Whilst America is not united, and I believe it never really has been, is this a state of affairs that should be resolved or attempted to be? We live in an age that idolises unity,  believing it is something to work towards by attempting to bring others into our political sphere. Yet rarely do we give credit to accepting strong disagreement on issues where there is no unity to be had. Abortion is one such case; you either believe abortion is murder or it is a necessary and fundamental right for women’s bodily autonomy.